Veteran’s Day

Tonight was one of those extra special nights. Snoochie’s middle school and the other middle school in our town put together a very special Veteran’s Day program to honor those brave men and women who help protect America and our way of life.

Over the years Veteran’s Day has lost its meaning to me, but because of this show and the hard work displayed by Snoochie and her classmates, things have shifted back into perspective.

Both of my grandfathers were in the military. Infact my paternal grandfather contacted a disease over seas (malaria) while in the service. I believe my maternal grandfather was in the Navy. I am not entirely sure of his branch, but I do know that he was a boxer! My own father was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and well, that is a really rough position for him to have been in. He has been shot down. His friends died all around him. He had to make terrible choices to survive. The home coming wasn’t exaxtly pleasant either. He wasn’t hailed as a hero like his own father was. He is though. My dad is a hero. I wish more people recognized that after his tour was over. Kind words would have gone along way back then.

So the next time I see a Vet, I’m going to make darn sure I say “Thank you.”

I may not agree with war, but that does not mean that soldiers are not heros trying to do good and saving lives. It is all about perspective. If people would have been kinder to my dad, maybe he would not have so many demons today.

If you are in the service and you read this:

Happy Veteran’s Day. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the sacrifices you have made.

Therealgoddessianna

Hi! I'm Ianna. Welcome to my journal. I'm a mom to three & fur mom to four. These are my thoughts as I think them. They're really random. I'm really random. I'm just saying...
I like the idea of a journal so I can lump my thoughts, memories, and stories into one place.

4 thoughts on “Veteran’s Day”

I came across a veteran while I was waiting for stitches in A&E…he asked me what had happened and I said self harm…but he didn’t say anything bad, he said because of what he experienced in war (I think he was in the Falklands war or something) he went through the whole suicide thing and depression. This man was so nice though he didn’t judge me! The whole time he was giving me ideas on how to feel better and better how I felt about myself and life, he tried his best to help even though he didn’t have to. He showed concern to a stranger he didn’t have to talk to and related his experiences and what helped him and I’ve just never forgotten him; this was like three years ago. Like you I feel awful about the horrible stuff he had to go through in the war…but he was still around and came through his demons and was trying to help me…so you’re right all war veterans deserve respect and a big thank you for all they go through fighting our wars!

I’m fairly certain my dad has had to kill a child who was approaching his camp with a bomb of some sort. I haven’t really heard the story because my dad flat out refuses to talk about it. I think he judges himself very harshly for the things he was forced to do. The irony is, he wouldn’t judge anyone else who has been in his position. Vietnam haunts my dad in ways I will never understand.

I’m not surprised…unfortunately there are actually questions you should never ask someone who has been in that kind of war…my sisters husband fought in the notorious Helmand province in Afganistan and he’s not been at his best even though he decided to leave the army in the end…I always wonder if he knew he’d killed anyone and my dad just said to me that kind of thing you never ask because like with your dad it is probably haunting him and he’ll never probably talk about it ever. It’s awful the burdens they have to carry and we can never truly know or even ask 🙁